Look inside almost anyone's purse or pocket, and it probably contains at least a mobile phone and a wallet bulging with bills, coins, receipts, credit cards, IDs, train or bus passes and any number of membership cards.

In Japan, that may soon be a thing of the past as the mobile industry aims to combine the two with a small embedded chip that can also store money and personal information.

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile operator, on July 18 became the first operator to launch a wallet phone, equipped with Sony Corp.'s FeliCa smart chip, which can be quickly read by passing it over a scanner.

"FeliCa is going to be a basic requirement for me when I upgrade my phone," said 31-year-old Norihiko Fujimori, who works for a Japanese Internet Startup in Tokyo. "It'll be extremely convenient if my phone can contain everything."

The concept of a wallet phone is just getting off the ground, but the smart chip technology is not new in Asia.

Tokyo commuters have used "Suica" train passes with an embedded FeliCa chip for nearly three years, and 9,000 convenience stores, restaurants and retail outlets around the country accept pre-paid rechargeable debit cards known as Edy.

"The biggest advantage of Edy is that it gets rid of coins and transactions are faster," said Takashi Nakamura, manager at bitWallet Inc., which operates the Edy network.

Nakamura said it was too early to consider taking the technology overseas to Europe and the United States, but admitted that bitWallet decided on the name "Edy," which stands for euro, dollar and yen, with global ambitions in mind.

In other parts of Asia, Hong Kong residents use "Octopus" smart cards to access trains, buses, and ferries or pay for merchandise or parking. Singapore also has a similar system.

In Japan, expectations are high that FeliCa will change the way consumers and businesses function on a daily basis.

Videogame maker Sega Corp. tested a service in which customers at its entertainment centers can use FeliCa-compatible mobile phones to play games.

Credit card company JCB gave employees mobile phones that could be used as company identification cards and for purchases at vending machines and in the company cafeteria.

While some consumers express concerns about carrying phones that contain electronic money and personal information or having their purchases monitored, J.P. Morgan's Katsuma said it was no different than carrying a wallet or credit card.

"Everybody doesn't need to carry them," said Katsuma. "Only people, who are into that sort of thing or are high-end users, should use them. It's like an airline mileage membership."

(Agencies)

 

 

 

(xixi)